How To Write A Dissertation: Step-By-Step Guide

Now you’re at the top of the academic pyramid and it’s time to write a dissertation – the crown jewel of academic achievement. If you’re intimidated how to write a dissertation, you are not alone. A dissertation is the most serious task a student can undertake and the results of a well-written dissertation will greatly influence your future career. A dissertation takes years to compose and preparing a dissertation may seem to be more work than the writing. To get through this task, we’ve compiled a step-by-step guide for dissertation writing tips for obtaining the academic results you’ve worked so hard to achieve. So let’s get started.

Step 1. Choose A Dissertation Topic

The importance to choose a dissertation topic couldn’t be overstated. The topic grabs the readers attention and compels them to further look into your work. A boring topic will result in years of hard work collecting dust and not considered among your colleagues.

To write the perfect dissertation, your thesis needs to identify a practical problem that needs a solution and captivate the interests of future researchers who will use your findings to further develop the topic. If you’re stuck with thesis paper writing many opt to hire a professional to get started.

Finally, ensure you are interested in your topic. Writing on subjects you have little interest will demonstrate a lack of energy and enthusiasm and will surely reflect in your supervisor’s assessment of your work.

Step 2. Writing A Dissertation Proposal

Now that you’ve found a perfect topic the next part is to hammer out how to write a dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal in a nutshell is your dissertation outline of what is to follow in your paper. This section is not to be overlooked! It guides the reader through your research story and detail the chapters related to your work. Dissertation proposal writing is what sells your research topic to your university committee who approves the research. Failing to articulate why your research topic is a valuable contribution to the academic community will result in certain failure. Getting your dissertation approved is as important as the research itself, for this reason, many Ph.D. candidates seek the help of a professional online writing service like Edusson when you need someone to ‘write my dissertation’.

While your dissertation topic gets the reader to open your dissertation, the proposal provides a succinct road map of your research with the following points:

Introduction

Literature review

Methods and the materials

Findings

Conclusion

Bibliography

Step 3. Do Dissertation Research

If you thought your master’s thesis challenged your research skills, the requirements for writing a dissertation are by far more exhaustive. Any concepts you propose will need to be backed up but empirical data that guides the reader from a basic concept to a viable solution. Your ability to spend sleepless nights going through academic journals and published articles, that have been highly scrutinized by the academic community, is the key to drafting a dissertation that will pass with distinction. Be sure to use a variety of sources such as clinical case studies, books, scientific articles, or other dissertations. Also be sure to cite the materials according to your academic requirements, whether it’s APA, MLA, Harvard, etc. Professional writers have access to exclusive databases of the most authoritative academic journals, if you find yourself lacking the motivation or ability to come up with sufficient sources to validate your theories, a dissertation research service is a great solution. Professional Ph.D. writers can offer dissertation writing help and give you the keys to laying out your findings in a compelling manner that will impress the reader with concrete facts.

Step 4. Dissertation Writing Process

If you’re feeling that the planning stage of a dissertation seems to be most of the work, you are on the right track! If you’ve properly planned and laid out your dissertation, to write a dissertation will be much easier. There are a few strategies to make the writing process easier. You may find it easier to start with the literature review, or jumping right into the findings section. Most researches find it easier to write the introduction and conclusion last, as these sections identify and reflect on the main body of your paper. You may want to do some minor editing and adjustments through the writing process but to be successful it’s best to focus on getting all your ideas down as a first draft and then editing the paper as a whole unit to produce a final.

Create A Plan Of Working Process

The environment where you work is critical to the success of your dissertation. Treat your dissertation as a full-time job, set a schedule to work on your dissertation and find a productive workplace where you won’t have distractions. As the most challenging of all academic assignments being able to focus at full mental capacity is key to delivering the results you envision for the perfect paper.

Develop Your Dissertation Structure And Write An Outline

Your dissertation structure needs to follow a specific format, your university may have specific requirements, but here is a basic rundown of a standard dissertation structure:

Introduction

The introduction is just that, provides the reader what is to follow in your dissertation and a strong thesis statement that will detail what question you intend to answer and why it is important for the academic community. Be sure to include language that interests the reader and reinforces why your dissertation is important.

Literature Review

The literature review is where you discuss already known information about your dissertation topic. Explain what other sources have found, what their conclusion is and why it is relevant to your research. You may want to detail any shortcomings of other research and how you’ll expand upon their findings to offer more scientific contributions on the topic.

Methodology

With the methodology section, answer the question of “how” you’ve conducted your research, different methods are more applicable for certain topics. For instance, if you’re writing a dissertation on psychology, you may find that case studies that examined certain groups of people with common characteristics may be an effective method of coming to conclusions. Likewise, if you’re doing a dissertation on History, interviews with renowned historians and their knowledge may also yield compelling testimony.

Findings

In the findings section, this is where you demonstrate where all your hard work paid off. After years of research and reviewing the work of others, you can finally make a statement on what your conclusions are on your research. Be sure to stay focused on the topic question and most importantly – be objective! A dissertation is a scientific document where conclusions are evidenced based. Any matters of opinion or tendency must be supported with facts presented in your dissertation, a failure to do so will ruin the credibility of your hard work and you risk getting a low assessment on your dissertation.

Conclusion

Wrapping up your paper, revisit your introduction, restate the topic of the dissertation and summarize the key results of your research. Also, state why your research is important and mention any future research that may be important regarding your topic.

Bibliography

The bibliography’s primary role is to give credit to cited works to avoid plagiarism and to assist other researchers who may develop your dissertation topic. Check with your course supervisor to determine the citation style and whether to use a bibliography or a references list.

Write Your Dissertation Draft

We all remember back in grade school, writing out our stories on recycled paper only to have our teachers tell us to review our work and to rewrite it. The process is no different for any college paper, not even professional writers draft perfect work on the first go, writing a draft is a great way to focus on getting your knowledge in a structured format so you can later focus on brushing it up for a final presentation.

Step 5. Proofread And Edit Dissertation

Even professional writers edit their own work. Once you’ve completed your draft, go through your work and ensure it flows in a logical and consistent manager, check for spelling and grammar and ensure that any claims you made are backed with facts. Also read it aloud to see that it flows in a nice manner. Many find it difficult to review their own work and opt for a professional dissertation editing service. Having a third set of eyes may pick up on elements you’ve overlooked and since professionals review many writing styles, can also offer advice to improve your writing.

7 Useful Dissertation Writing Tips

A dissertation will not only test your professional knowledge but also your work ethic. These tips will help ensure success when writing your dissertation:

Keep a calendar – mark down key dates and milestones you want to accomplish. Setup your own deliverable schedule to properly organize you.

Consult colleagues – With such a huge task its easy to get bogged down in details that you lose sight of the big picture. Ask colleagues to read sections of your work and ask for feedback.

Take breaks – We all know exhaustion and brain drain produces sub-standard work. Be sure you are well rested and energized when working on your paper.

Use sticky notes – sure sounds old fashioned, but when you are focused on a section of your dissertation and another idea comes to mind, don’t lose focus on your work, instead create a sticky note to follow up later. Having a physical piece of paper will stand to remind you to return to an idea at a later time.

Talk to your supervisor – Don’t be afraid to consult your supervisor if you have any challenges, they are there to serve you and they are familiar with what the university is looking for.

Now that you’re better prepared to write your dissertation, remember to stay focused, research well, and to always edit your work. If you make your conclusions concrete and focused on a practical problem, you are sure to get a great assessment and be at the top of your field. Professional writers at Edusson are available 24/7 to get you through any stumbling blocks you may find, so if you get stuck reach out to us and we’ll get you across the finish line with a high assessment.

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